Zing tipped for Ba­rina

THE spirit of the SS Com­modore could be tapped for a high-per­for­mance Ba­rina. Chevro­let has a Sonic with a tur­bocharged 1.4-litre en­gine that makes 102kW and a dress-up pack that is be­ing con­sid­ered for Aus­tralia.

Called the Z Spec, it is billed as a con­cept car in Detroit but is clearly in­tended to put some punch into the Sonic in a coun­try where small cars are still not par­tic­u­larly pop­u­lar.

Holden ad­mits it can see po­ten­tial in a Z Spec ver­sion of the Ba­rina but is not mak­ing any com­mit­ment.

‘‘The Z Spec is a con­cept,’’ says Holden spokesman Jonathan Rose.

‘‘No de­ci­sion has been made on whether it will be in­tro­duced in Aus­tralia.